On October 30, CMS launched a new online platform – the Nursing Home Resource Center – to serve as a centralized hub bringing together the latest information, guidance, and data on nursing homes that is important to facilities, frontline providers, residents, and their families, especially as the fight against COVID-19 continues.

The Resource Center consolidates all nursing home information, guidance, and resources into a user-friendly, one-stop-shop that is easily navigable so providers and caregivers can spend less time searching for critical answers and more time caring for residents. Moreover, the new platform contains features specific to residents and their families, ensuring they have the information needed to make empowered decisions about their health care.

With the new page, people can efficiently navigate all facility inspection reports and data – including COVID-19 pandemic and Public Health Emergency (PHE) information. This tool will remain active through and beyond the COVID-19 PHE.

Full text of News Alert.

CMS hosts varied recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information related to the agency’s response to COVID-19. These sessions are open to members of the healthcare community and are intended to provide updates, share best practices among peers, and offer attendees an opportunity to ask questions of CMS and other subject matter experts.

Call details are below. Conference lines are limited so we highly encourage you to join via audio webcast, either on your computer or smartphone web browser. You are welcome to share this invitation with your colleagues and professional networks. These calls are not intended for the press.

Calls recordings and transcripts are posted on the CMS podcast page at: https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/OpenDoorForums/PodcastAndTranscripts

CMS COVID-19 Office Hours Calls (twice a month on Tuesday at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern)

 Office Hour Calls provide an opportunity for hospitals, health systems, and providers to ask questions of agency officials regarding CMS’s temporary actions that empower local hospitals and healthcare systems to:

• Increase Hospital Capacity – CMS Hospitals Without Walls;
• Rapidly Expand the Healthcare Workforce;
• Put Patients Over Paperwork; and
• Further Promote Telehealth in Medicare

Next Office Hours:

Tuesday, November 3^rd at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 2394789

Audio Webcast link: https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=2612

For the most current information including call schedule changes, please click here

To keep up with the important work the White House Task Force is doing in response to COVID-19 click here: https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=36fa2226-6aae0b0d-36fa1319-0cc47a6d17cc-2d06c219f858d641&u=http://www.coronavirus.gov/. For information specific to CMS, please visit the Current Emergencies Website.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added vaccine-specific content to their extensive Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Vaccines gateway page. These new resources include information on vaccination planning, how vaccine safety will be monitored, and FAQs. These resources are intended to clarify how COVID-19 vaccine recommendations will be made and how the vaccines will be monitored for safety, to build trust and confidence in future COVID-19 vaccines. As more information becomes available and as vaccines become authorized or approved and recommended for use in the U.S. updates will be added.

Cancer prevention and early detection are central to the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) mission to save lives, celebrate lives, and lead the fight for a world without cancer. Early detection of cancer through screening reduces mortality from many cancers. Far too many individuals for whom screening is recommended remain unscreened, and this situation has been aggravated by the substantial decline in cancer screening resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the pandemic-related disruptions will likely exacerbate existing disparities in cancer screening and survival across groups of people who have systemically experienced social or economic obstacles to screening and care. In response to these challenges, the American Cancer Society developed the ACS – Resuming Cancer Screening During COVID-19 Toolkit to summarize the current situation and to provide guidance on how public health agencies, healthcare providers, and screening advocates across the nation can promote and deliver cancer screening appropriately, safely and equitably during the pandemic.

Next month, the Supreme Court will consider whether to strike down the Affordable Care Act (ACA)–and with it, preexisting-condition protections. The Commonwealth Fund examines the potential impact on young people, who have made the largest insurance coverage gains of any age group since the ACA was passed. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the authors estimate 2.3 million people ages 20 to 39 who didn’t have prior underlying health conditions have tested positive for COVID-19. “Uncertainty about long-term health effects may be sufficient for health insurers to designate COVID-19 infection as a preexisting condition,” the authors write. “Some may go further and designate anyone who is tested regularly for COVID-19 as having a preexisting condition.” Read more.

A new study conducted by researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine has found that a common dental item can inactivate human coronaviruses: mouthwash and oral rinses. Results were published in the Journal of Medical Virology, in which researches tested various oral and nasopharyngeal rinses–one percent solution of baby shampoo, a neti pot, peroxide sore-mouth cleansers and mouthwashes–to determine how well they inactivated human coronaviruses. Read the news release.

The United States reported a record of more than 500,000 new cases over the past week, as states and cities resorted to stricter new measures to contain the virus that is raging across the country, especially the American heartland. The record was broken Tuesday, even as the Trump administration announced what it called its first-term scientific accomplishments, in a press release that included “ENDING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC” written in bold, capital letters. Twenty-nine states reported their highest day of coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) amended its Sept. 19 Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements on Oct. 22. The key changes include:

• Accounting Method. Organizations can use their normal method of accounting (cash or accrual basis).
• “Lost Revenue” Definition. The definition of lost revenue has been modified to permit up to the amount of the differences between 2019 and 2020 actual patient care revenues.
• Deadline. Organizations have an additional six months to expend funding–through June 30, 2021.
• Direction. Providers are directed to use funds for expenses before applying PRF funding to lost revenue.

The amended reporting requirements guidance can be found here. For more information on the PRF reporting requirements update, see summary of this week’s All PA FQHC CEO meeting and BKD CPAs & Advisors article.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) released Health Alert 533 – 10/26/20 – ADV – Additional Factors to Determine Close Contacts of Persons with COVID-19. This Health Advisory provides recommendations and considerations for determining close contacts to people with SARS-CoV-2 infection. DOH provides this guidance based on available information about COVID-19 and it is subject to change. Click here to access all of the 2020 Health Alerts, Advisories and Updates.